Kriterien der ethnischen Identität

1983 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-42
Author(s):  
Harald Haarmann

SUMMARY Criteria for Ethnic Identity Despite numerous publications on theoretical and methodological issues regarding ethnic identity (ethnicity), many methodological problems relative to this topic remain insufficiently clarified. This article deals particularly with the problems involved in establishing and evaluating criteria of ethnic identity. The author assigns the complex of problems regarding ethnic identity significant status within a theory of the ecology of language. Specific points covered in methodological issues involving the formation of concepts and application of terminology involve: 1. problems of the weighting of distinctive features; 2. problems in the mutual boundary-marking between ethnic groups (i.e., problems of ethnic borders); 3. problems in the changeability of ethnic identity; 4. problems in the correlation of language and ethnicity; 5. problems of the polarity of subjective and objective features of ethnicity; 6. problems of multiple identities and the role of ethnic identity; 7. problems in the historical dimension of ethnic identity; 8. problems in the linking of groups within language communities of the same national identity. In international sociological and sociolinguistic research, unanimity of opinion exists only on the fact that ethnic identity cannot be characterized by a single feature but rather by a series of individual features (the accumulation of features). The priorities to be attached to the individual features are in large measure disputed. The author proceeds from the assumption that ethnic identities in real life are formed through a stronger or weaker dominance of individual features; they should be characterized accordingly. An unacceptable a priori evaluation or weighting of features is thus avoided. In the specific context of a long-term research program on the smaller language communities and ethnic languages of Europe, the author particularly examines the role of language in ethnicity. Contrary to most previous contributions to discussions of this problem area, the author distinguishes between the general linguistic affiliation as a characteristic of ethnic identity on the one hand (cf. the relationship in point 4) and the criterion of language-oriented group formations (cf. relationship in point 8). The problem area of the principle of language community is illustrated using the example of the Transcarpathian Gypsies in the Ukraine. RESUMO Kriterioj de la etna idento Malgraŭ multaj ĝisnunaj eldonajoj pri la etna idento (etneco), multaj metodaj pro-blemoj rilataj al tiu temaro restas nesufice klarigitaj. La jena artikolo aparte traktas la problemaron de la starigo kaj elvalorigo de kriterioj de la etna idento. La autoro al-jugas al la problemaro pri la etna idento gravan rangon interne de teorio pri la lingva ekologio. Apartaj punktoj, traktitaj en metodaraj demandoj, rilataj al la formado de konceptoj kaj la apliko de terminaro, estas: 1. problemaro pri la elvalorigo de karakteraj trajtoj; 2. problemaro de la reciproka limigo inter etnaj grupoj (t.e. problemoj pri etnaj limoj); 3. problemaro pri la šanĝebleco de la etna idento; 4. problemaro pri la rilato inter lingvo kaj etneco; 5. problemaro pri la polusigo de subjektivaj kaj objektivaj trajtoj de etneco; 6. problemaro de pluroblaj identoj kaj la rolo de etna idento; 7. problemaro ce la historia dimensio de la etna idento; 8. problemaro de la formiĝo de grupoj interne de lingvaj komunumoj de la sama nacia idento. En la internacia sociologia kaj socilingvistika esplorado, unuanimeco de opinio ekzistas nur pri la fakto, ke ne eblas karakterizi la etnan identon nur per unusola trajto, sed, male, per aro da opaj trajtoj (la kuniĝo de trajtoj). Oni grandparte disputas pri la prioritato, kiun oni aljuĝu al la opaj trajtoj. La autoro progresas ek de la asumo, ke la etnaj identoj en la vera vivo estas formitaj per, jen pli forta, jen pli malforta, rego de opaj trajtoj; oni karakterizu ilin lau tio. Tiel, oni evitas neakceptindan aprioran elvalorigon au elpezigon de trajtoj. En la aparta kunteksto de longdaura esplorprogramo pri la pli malgrandaj lingvaj komunumoj kaj etnaj lingvoj de Europo, la autoro aparte pristudas la rolon de la lingvo ce la etneco. Kontraue al la plejmultaj ĝisnunaj kontribuoj al diskutoj pri tiu problemaro, la autoro distingas inter la ĝenerala lingva aparteno kiel trajto de la etna idento unuflanke (komparu la rilton ce punkto 4) kaj la kriterion de la formigo de grupoj surbaze de lingvo (komparu la rilaton ce punkto 8). La problemaro de la prin-cipo de la lingva komunumo estas ilustrita per la ekzemplo de la transkarpataj ciganoj en Ukrajnio.

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 219-225
Author(s):  
Arif A JAMAL

AbstractIn considering the articles in this Special Issue, I am struck by the importance of a set of factors that, in my view, both run through the articles like a leitmotif, as well as shape the major ‘take away’ lesson(s) from the articles. In this short commentary, I elaborate on these factors and the lesson(s) to take from them through five ‘Cs’: context; complexity; contestation; the framework of constitutions; and the role of comparative law. The first three ‘Cs’ are lessons from the case studies of the articles themselves, while the second two ‘Cs’ are offered as lessons to help take the dialogue forward. Fundamentally, these five ‘Cs’ highlight the importance of the articles in this Special Issue and the conference from which they emerged on the one hand, while on the other hand, also making us aware of what are the limits of what we should conclude from the individual articles. In other words, taken together, the five ‘Cs’ are, one might say, lessons about lessons.


2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 141-152
Author(s):  
Beáta Pusztai

Abstract With respect to adaptation studies, contemporary Japanese popular culture signifies a unique case, as different types of media (be those textual, auditive, visual or audio-visual) are tightly intertwined through the “recycling” of successful characters and stories. As a result, a neatly woven net of intermedial adaptations has been formed - the core of this complex system being the manga-anime-live-action film “adaptational triangle.” On the one hand, the paper addresses the interplay of the various factors by which the very existence of this network is made possible, such as the distinctive cultural attitude to “originality,” the structure of the comics, animation and film industries, and finally, the role of fictitious genealogies of both traditional and contemporary media in the negotiation of national identity. On the other hand, the essay also considers some of the most significant thematic, narrative, and stylistic effects this close interconnectedness has on the individual medium. Special attention is being paid to the nascent trend of merging the adaptive medium with that of the original story (viewing adaptation as integration), apparent in contemporary manga-based live- action comedies, as the extreme case of intermedial adaptation. That is, when the aim of the adaptational process is no longer the transposition of the story but the adaptation (i.e. the incorporation) of the medium itself- elevating certain medium-specific devices into transmedial phenomena.


Info ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 17 (5) ◽  
pp. 66-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
ChienHsing Wu ◽  
Shu-Chen Kao ◽  
Hsin-Yi Liao

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to reveal the role of individual–social–technology fit in online social network (OSN) value development. The social software features (e.g. communication and interaction), social features (e.g. privacy and trust) and individual features (e.g. sense of belonging and self-disclosure) are considered fitting forms to describe the OSN value. Implications and suggestions are addressed. Design/methodology/approach – The literature review on social software, the social and individual characteristics and the research gap with respect to OSN value is presented. The research arguments are then hypothesized, and research model used to describe the proposed role is examined empirically. The research targeted mobile phone users as the subjects, and the extent of the activities of these users on OSN for both work and studies. A salient investigation explores the moderation effect of gender. The research results are obtained, and the findings are revealed on the basis of 468 social software users. Findings – The significant effect of individual–social–technology fit on OSN value development is presented through the satisfaction of both participation and sharing information, and knowledge about this fit is verified. The interplay of social software, social and individual features contributes significantly to individual–social–technology fit development, implying that OSN value development is not a single issue. OSN value development should be considered concurrently with technological, personal and social issues. Research limitations/implications – The empirical study confirms that fitness analysis produces a systematic outcome, in which all elements (e.g. social, technology and individual) are required to cooperate with one another to maximize the OSN value. An individual adopts online channels to communicate with others; thus, the benefits may be a multidimensional issue instead of only a single information service issue. They also consider building an equal social relationship to be important, as it enables diverse propositions, maintains acceptable privacy and behaves on faith to enhance the fit of technology features and individual features to value development. The subjects also likely accepted the fact that emotion generation is important for the advantage of fit of technology features and social features, thereby likely benefitting OSN value development. Originality/value – The OSN does not only add new values to the society but also brings new effects on social development, especially in terms of social cognition from virtual community formation, development and creation. Although existing studies in the literature present the important aspects and antecedents linked significantly to OSN value development, these studies also insufficiently discuss the effect of fit of these facets on OSN value development. This exploratory study mainly aims to propose and examine the individual–social–technology fit model through an empirical investigation. The main argument of the study is that when a positive and healthy virtual society is developed through social software, the individual and social characteristics, as well as the social software features, should be defined with a suitable fit to promote the social networking value.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-30
Author(s):  
Nenad Miscevic ◽  

What is the role of toleration in the present-day crisis, marked by the inflow of refugees and increase in populism? The seriousness of the crises demands efforts of active toleration, acceptance, and integration of refugees and the like. Active toleration brings with itself a series of very demanding duties, divided into immediate ones involving immediate Samaritan aid to people at our doors and the long-term ones involving their acculturation and possibilities of decent life for them. A cosmopolitan attitude can contribute a lot. In the context of a refugee crisis, cosmopolitanism is not disappearing but showing its non-traditional, more Samaritan face turned not to distant strangers, as the classical one, but towards strangers at our doors.We have conjectured that this work of active toleration can diminish the need for the passive one: the well-integrated immigrant is no longer seen as a strange, exotic person with an incomprehensible and unacceptable attitude, but as one of us so that her attitudes become less irritating and provocative. The social-psychological approach that sees integration as involving both the preservation of central aspects of the original identity and the copy-pasting of the new one over it offers an interesting rationale for the conjecture: once integrated, the former newcomer is perceived as one of ‘us’ and her views stop being exotic, incomprehensible and a priori unacceptable. Given the amount of need for toleration, and difficulties and paradoxes connected with its passive variety, the conjecture, if true, might be a piece of good news.Finally, we have briefly touched the question of deeper causes of the crisis. Once one turns to this question, the traditional cosmopolitan issues come back to the forefront: the deep poverty and unjust distribution on the one hand, and conflicts and wars on the other. Cosmopolitans have a duty to face these issues, and this is where active global toleration leads in our times.


Africa ◽  
1991 ◽  
Vol 61 (3) ◽  
pp. 299-317 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suzette Heald

AbstractThe literature has tended to deal with diviners only where they have been seen to play a notable role in the transformation of social relationships. This leads us to overlook their relative social invisibility in many African societies. Yet we may gain insight into the rise of prophets and charismatic healers by looking at the other side of this story in the multitude of very humble practitioners plying their trade. This is the context in which this article explores the role of diviners among the Gisu of Uganda.The privacy of consultation, the search for distant diviners, the way they are approached only at times of crisis and as agents of private counteraction or vengeance, go some way towards explaining why it is difficult for diviners to gain recognition. Added to which are the difficulties of another order which relate to what might here be regarded as divinatory success. For divination may be seen to fail at a number of different levels: in the lack of credibility of a given practitioner, i n a lack of unanimity among those consulted and in the multiplicity of causal agents evoked.An argument put forward here is that scepticism is endemic to the system and, possibly, distinctive to it. We should ask not, as Evans-Pritchard did, how belief i s sustained despite the presence of scepticism but what it is about these beliefs which encourages scepticism. It is not useful to explore this issue in terms of the rationality question or the ‘truth’ of belief systems. If we are to draw a comparison with modern attitudes, of greater significance are the organisation and differentiation of knowledge and its relationship to power. It is suggested that diagnostic systems used by societies such as the Gisu encourage an agnostic attitude in a way i n which those of the modern West do not.In the final part of the article the social role of divination is reconsidered and some of the positive functions proposed for it are questioned. Gisu divination can be seen to have evolved into a very narrow niche whose parameters are bound, on the one hand, by the limits of belief and, on the other, by a system of interpersonal vengeance. We may say that the socially marginal attributes of diviners, exclusively concerned with the negative aspects of social relationships, represent a real social marginality. At best they are agents by which the individual may be reconciled with harshnesses imposed by his own destiny, of ancestral affliction; at worst they are agents of individual vengeance and retribution. This may be taken as more or less disqualifying them from articulating a positive, future-oriented vision on behalf of the community. Clearly it is not impossible but it is a huge jump from these humble practitioners, interpreting the present in terms of the past and trading evil with evil at an individual level, to prophets capable of formulating a positive social vision, a means forward, on behalf of a wider moral or social community.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ayman Khaled Hussein ◽  
Mohd Nazri Latiff Azmi ◽  
Mohammad Nusr Mohammad Al-Subaihi

This is a thematic study of Harry Potter (1997-2007) concerning the theme of alienation. Joanne Rowling is a British novelist famous for writing her best-known fantasy book series, Harry Potter (1997-2007). This study argues that Rowling employs fantastical elements in Harry Potter to present symbolic and real-life themes that summon the postcolonial discourse of alienation. In addition, the study aims to raise the role of fantasy in serving Humanity and the dignity of people and understanding the conflicts among the members of society. Moreover, this study investigates how racial discrimination and postcolonialism work against the Humanity of heroes and their companions in their community. Therefore, that relationship causes a realistic commentary on real-life situations. The theoretical platform deployed in this study is a postcolonial perspective that purports to grasp the striking overlaps between the theme of alienation and the insights of the racial and social postcolonial discourse. The findings achieved in this paper prove the juxtaposition between alienation on the one hand and racial and social discrimination on the other hand. The researcher seeks to demonstrate that Harry Potter reflects the suffering and alienation of characters.


2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (17/18) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marin Laak

Teesid: Artikkel keskendub eepose „Kalevipoeg“ käsitlusele võrdleva kirjandusteaduse vaatepunktist. „Kalevipoja“ uurimine ilukirjandusliku teosena muutis paradigmaatiliselt rahvuseepose senist tõlgendust ja seda tänu Jüri Talveti käsitlustele „Kalevipojast“ kui suurest Euroopa eeposest, silmapaistavast maailmakirjanduse kunsteeposte seas. Eepose teksti ja poeetika kirjandusteaduslik uurimine on selgitanud, kuidas eepose tekst on üles ehitatud sisemistele, intratekstuaalsetele seostele, mis korduvad gradatsiooniliselt ja toetuvad teatud kindlatele tekstuaalsetele sõlmpunktidele, näiteks „Saarepiiga“, „uni“ jpt. Enam kui autentsed allikad, on „Kalevipoja“ kui kirjandusliku teksti puhul oluline eepose toimimine pidevalt uusi tekste ärgitava tüvitekstina. Eepose analüüs näitab, kuidas selliste seoste alusel tekivad uued kultuurilised ühikud, kauneid näiteid selliste motiivikordustele rajatud seosteahelate kohta leidub ka Jüri Talveti luules. The article focuses on the treatment of the epic The Kalevipoeg from the viewpoint of comparative literature. This approach is a continuation of the study of literary relations of the epic which, on the one hand is opposite to, but on the other hand continues the present folkloristic approach to The Kalevipoeg as a folklore-based epic, which is based on the comparative-historical method of studying folklore. F. R. Kreutzwald’s role in creating the national epic was enormous; the epic can be conceived as a fictional and intentional piece, emphasising the role of its author. Although different genres of genuine folklore can be recognised in the epic, works of fiction of European and world classics have also been used in its construction, and the text of the epic has itself become an intertextual foundation for new works of fiction. The paradigm of discussing the epic changed due to Jüri Talvet’s groundbreaking treatment of The Kalevipoeg as a great European epic and one of the most remarkable representatives of the genre of literary epic in world literature. Literary scholarship of the text and poetics of the epic has demonstrated how the text is constructed by gradational internal intertextual relations, based on certain textual nodal points such as, e.g., ’island maid’, ’stone’, ’sleep’, etc. For example, the figure of Island Maid is intertextually related to many earlier archetexts and fundamental texts and has, in its turn, inspired other fictional texts. The author intentionally allowed for ambiguous interpretation of the death of a young girl – the girl slipped into water, but was it an accident or a suicide? The Estonian heroic epic differs from other literary epics by a gradational motif of ’sleep’, occurring through the text; by using this motif, the author develops the heroic epic into a tragedy of fate. The hero is informed about his fatal guilt in sleep long before it occurred in real life. Jüri Talvet has discovered such rhizomes of relations in the text of The Kalevipoeg due to his studies of world literature, but he has also written about them in his poetry.


Author(s):  
Predko Victoriia

The article is devoted to a theoretical analysis of the problem of ethnic identity and its main mechanisms. The driving factor in the life of the ethnic group is its ethnic identity, which is an important component of socialization and a leading factor in the further development of the individual, its productive functioning in society. The article analyzes the main provisions on the definition of ethnic identity. The basic functions and structure of ethnic identity are considered, its psychological role is determined. The process of ethnic identity formation in the times of globalization changes is characterized. Its leading role in socio- psychological adaptation, maintaining the mental health of the individual and maintaining state integrity are determined. The important role of ethnic identity in the formation of ethno-national values that regulate the living space of society is emphasized. The article presents the relationship of ethnic identity with the ethnic mentality of the population.


2012 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 64-87
Author(s):  
Anabela Pereira

The aim of this article is to demonstrate how body-representations offer an opportunity for its visual interpretation from a biographical point of view, enhancing, on the one hand, the image’s own narrative dynamics, and, on the other, the role of the body as a place of incorporation of experiences, as well as, a vehicle mediating the individual interaction with the world. Perspective founded in the works of the artists Helena Almeida and Jorge Molder, who use self-representation as an expression of these incorporated (lived) experiences, constitutes an important discursive construction and structuring of their narrative identity through visual creation, the artists enable the other with moments of sharing knowledge, creativity and subjectivity, contributing also to the construction of the contemporary, cultural and social imagery.


1989 ◽  
Vol 33 ◽  
pp. 64-70
Author(s):  
Elisabeth van der Linden

One of the most important questions that has to be answered before we can start developing courseware for computer assisted language learning concerns the role feedback could or should play in this type of courseware. This question is the more important because in the last few years two tendencies seem to be developing in CALL: -one that stimulates and elaborates 'traditional' CALL-programmes, adapted as much as possible to the characteristics of the individual learners, taking into account the level of knowledge of the learner and providing feedback that is specifically adapted to the learners' responses; -other CALL-developers tend to propagate 'open-ended' programmes like adventures, simulations, that they consider more interesting and more motivating because they are closer to real-life situations. Making the first type of programme requires a huge amount of work: foreseeing and analyzing learners' responses and developing adequate feedback. The second type of programme is available and ready for use, no programming is necessary - but individual control and correction are not possible. Moreover, it is not very clear what learners do learn when working with these programmes. An essential difference between the two types of programmes is in the feedback they provide. If we want to be able to make a choice between these two approaches to CALL, we should know more about the role of feedback. That is what the project at the Univer-sity of Amsterdam described here wants to achieve.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document